What's happenin', everyone? I'm interested in finding out what you folks out there think about my music and my profile in general, in regards to it showcasing my musicianship/style/etc. I notice I get a lot of views on my profile when I post musician ads but I don't get too many responses. I don't know if I'm overwhelming musicians or what. I'm quite confident in my material, though I'm certainly not an egotistical musican whatsoever. With so many amazing musicians out there, it's impossible for me not to remain humble, you know? Anyway, if any of you can find the time to preview my music and profile in general (I have some YouTube videos up in addition to a fairly informative, "About" section).

Cool...beautiful and very mellow at times and then there's the heavier stuff.. all very nice. Why arent you using some of those cool licks in your vids on the recordings though??? Very interesting stuff your teaching.... I'm gonna try and use that cool diminished "trick" in my shredding technique

You did a great job filling out your profile, uploading multiple tracks and videos. But I gotta say: the first thing I read is "Influences," and leaving it too open like that, I have no clue what you're REALLY into.

Yea, many musicians listen to very diverse types and styles of music, but there's only a few that make you pick up your instrument and play, right?

Oh and I like the recordings IMO, Heavy Groove needs more distortion, so it doesn't sound MIDI-ish.

Stephen,
You may not believe this, but the other day at work, I was daydreaming about those poly meter metal bands you turned us old guys onto last year!

Sounds like you've been keeping busy. I didn't yet listen to all of your new material, but what I sampled sounds good to me! (I'll check them out closer later,as time permits)

Concerning your profile, if you have the goods, there's no reason to be humble. I think you lay out what you do pretty well, it seems to me that anyone interested in doing something serious is likely to contact you sooner or later.

PhrAiLGuitarist wrote:What's happenin', everyone? I'm interested in finding out what you folks out there think about my music and my profile in general, in regards to it showcasing my musicianship/style/etc. I notice I get a lot of views on my profile when I post musician ads but I don't get too many responses. I don't know if I'm overwhelming musicians or what. I'm quite confident in my material, though I'm certainly not an egotistical musican whatsoever. With so many amazing musicians out there, it's impossible for me not to remain humble, you know? Anyway, if any of you can find the time to preview my music and profile in general (I have some YouTube videos up in addition to a fairly informative, "About" section).

Then I started watching your videos and I was like, "Holy crap, this guy can play!"

So I'd say this - you're are obviously really, really skilled with your guitar and you should be proud of your chops. But that skill isn't translating to your songwriting. You need to really work on your ability to take an idea and explore it; go somewhere with it! Expand on those ideas. Take them somewhere. Instead of repeating the same pattern over and over, take that initial pattern and start building variations off it. See where those variations take you. See what other ideas & patterns you can come up with that you could join with that initial idea. And then start working on composition. Start working on the answer to the question, "How do I take all these related ideas and put them together in a way that sounds like a musical journey?"

Crip2Nite wrote:Cool...beautiful and very mellow at times and then there's the heavier stuff.. all very nice. Why arent you using some of those cool licks in your vids on the recordings though??? Very interesting stuff your teaching.... I'm gonna try and use that cool diminished "trick" in my shredding technique

Thanks for the kind words, man! Definitely use whatever you find useful from my videos; that's what they're there for! I'm actually surprised that I haven't seen anyone implement that diminished pattern yet (though I know I'm certainly not the first). I was working on Michael Romeo's (of Symphony X fame) string skip + tap diminished lick and stumbled upon that method I use, which felt more natural since I can't do the whole string skip + tap thing without getting a ton of string noise. lol. Anywho, the reason I don't play lead over any of my material is because I typically write fairly complex riffs that change keys often (I didn't post any of those samples because that's not the stuff I'm looking to do in a band context) and I'm a by-ear player, so it takes me FOREVER to sit down and figure out the right notes to solo over certain progressions. I'll get around to learning even the most basic of theory one day, but I just find it sooooooo boring to sit down and do what it really takes to learn theory the way I would REALLY want to learn it. Does that make sense? =)

Andragon wrote:You did a great job filling out your profile, uploading multiple tracks and videos. But I gotta say: the first thing I read is "Influences," and leaving it too open like that, I have no clue what you're REALLY into.

Yea, many musicians listen to very diverse types and styles of music, but there's only a few that make you pick up your instrument and play, right?

Oh and I like the recordings IMO, Heavy Groove needs more distortion, so it doesn't sound MIDI-ish.

In regards to my list of influences, I just recently edited my profile and shortened the list to what you see now. I had a TON of bands up there and I do mean a TON. It's almost a double-edged sword for me to truly list ALL of my influences, because it gets to a point where it's ridiculously long, but then if I try to edit the list for the sake of brevity, it feels like I'm pigeonholing myself into select genres. I'll work on editing it a bit more to give a little more insight, though. I appreciate the opinion. I'm in the middle of working on finding a good tone and getting better with production, so the distortion should come off less MIDI-ish. That recording was recorded with my Digitech RP-7 and it's only capable of so much. Now that I have a Line 6 POD X3 Live, I hope to nail some excellent tone!

HowlinJ wrote:Stephen,You may not believe this, but the other day at work, I was daydreaming about those poly meter metal bands you turned us old guys onto last year!

Sounds like you've been keeping busy. I didn't yet listen to all of your new material, but what I sampled sounds good to me! (I'll check them out closer later,as time permits)

Concerning your profile, if you have the goods, there's no reason to be humble. I think you lay out what you do pretty well, it seems to me that anyone interested in doing something serious is likely to contact you sooner or later.

Hang in there and welcome back to the forum,Howlin'

Hey, man! I'm glad you enjoyed some of those bands. I've been finding out about more of them ever since; there are some great bands out there, let me tell ya. The latest one I've been digging on is Cloud Kicker. It's just one dude and he's got 2 albums you can download for free! Check out his stuff here (there is also a link somewhere to download his albums on this page): http://www.myspace.com/cloudkickeruk

You know, I have a great time doing the shred thing when I'm sitting at home or in a guitar store or sitting online jamming with my friends, but I actually find much more enjoyment doing the rhythm thing! Even though I have hardly any experience behind a kit, I feel like a drummer. I've always naturally gravitated towards the drums when I listen to music and I feel rhythm a lot more than anything else, so... even though I've worked hard to be able to play lead, it's really been for my own self-amusement than anything. Where one guy may look at me and think I'm pretty good, I'm still looking at all the players I'll never be even remotely as good as. lol. That's pretty much a major part of why I remain humble. That may be the wrong mindset, but... as long as I feel like there are tons of others better than me, I've always got something to strive for!

Then I started watching your videos and I was like, "Holy crap, this guy can play!"

So I'd say this - you're are obviously really, really skilled with your guitar and you should be proud of your chops. But that skill isn't translating to your songwriting. You need to really work on your ability to take an idea and explore it; go somewhere with it! Expand on those ideas. Take them somewhere. Instead of repeating the same pattern over and over, take that initial pattern and start building variations off it. See where those variations take you. See what other ideas & patterns you can come up with that you could join with that initial idea. And then start working on composition. Start working on the answer to the question, "How do I take all these related ideas and put them together in a way that sounds like a musical journey?"

Anyway, that's my take.

Hey there, dude. I appreciate your constructive criticism! While I definitely agree with you that most of those ideas probably come off as boring, they're the barebones of essentially what I would personally like to hear if I were checking out a profile like my own. I've got a pretty fair amount of fully-composed, recorded songs, but they're not the types of ideas I want to do in a band context. Essentially, I would like for someone to hear the barebones ideas I put up there and without any preconceived notions, be moved enough to at least come up with some ideas in their head as to how they can enhance or accentuate the music with their instrument. Maybe I should add that to my profile so as to be a little more specific since I definitely see where you're coming from.

I've struggled with the idea of putting up a fully-composed and recorded tune of mine since I do feel like it would be a pretty accurate representation of me as a player, but not necessarily what I want to do in a band context. That's when I decided to keep the audio samples mostly rhythmic and melodic while relying on my videos to show, "hey, here are some other facets to me as a guitar player and a musician." That was essentially my approach. Just as shocked as you were when going from listening to my samples to watching my videos, you would probably be equally as shocked if I posted some of my full compositions. Not that they're so amazing or anything, but they're definitely much different than just little ideas like I have posted on my profile. Perhaps I will consider posting one, though. You've shown me that it may behoove me to do as such to gain a little more exposure or draw some messages in I might not have received otherwise. Thanks again for your opinion!

ZXYZ wrote:NOW I know how the shredders do it!! Good vids, man

hahaha, thanks, bro. I appreciate the compliment! =)

repressthecadence wrote:I really like the ideas you've got going in a few of those. Really nice.

Oh, by the way, way to play in Drop C. We do, too!

Thanks, man. I appreciate you taking the time to listen! Yeah, I've been messing with dropped B tuning these days. It works with some things but doesn't with others. I like to find the balance of heaviness and emotional context. Sometimes, the emotion of something I wrote in C just doesn't come across in B, and vice versa. I haven't taken a look at your profile yet, but if you have any samples, I'll be sure to check them out here shortly!

Thanks, man. I appreciate the compliment! Unfortunately, Charlotte, NC isn't the greatest place for finding musicians interested in exactly what I'd like to do. I've lived here my whole life and I've played with quite a number of musicians here. It's so difficult to find the right combination of guys, you know? Actually, one of my best friends who used to sing in a band we had formed before he moved to Florida is from WV, hahaha. Thanks again for the compliment, dude!

J-HALEY wrote:Awesome stuff!

Thanks for checkin' the stuff out, man! I really appreciate it!

Thanks again to everyone for taking the time to check out the stuff on my profile. I appreciate all the comments/opinions/criticism/etc.!

Stephen, I know what you mean. How bout listing the genres you're most likely to venture into and name 1-2 artists from each. That shouldn't be exhaustingly long.
That's not a major deal though. You're talented and along with hard work, you should be able to find musicians sooner than you expect.